Laurel Mackie can see one of Flin Flon’s most scenic landmarks from her balcony, but she’s not impressed with the view.
Between faded signage and overgrown trees and foliage, Mackie says the Wahlenberg Heights lookout has been harshly neglected.
“It’s an embarrassment to the town,” she says.
“We have tour buses come, campers come. It gets a lot of traffic. I would think just as many people who go visit Flintabattey Flonatin bring their family or relatives up to see the view.”
Mackie, who has lived near the lookout on Bellevue Avenue her entire life, says proper maintenance has been lacking for the past five years.
“The trees and weeds and foliage have grown up to the point where it’s almost not a lookout anymore,” she says, adding that tourists sometimes ask to take photos from her balcony to see over the vegetation.
Mackie says the informational sign explaining the view at the lookout is so worn and water-damaged that it is almost unreadable.
If that weren’t enough, Mackie says the city uses the lookout as a winter dumping area for snow, sand and salt, diminishing its appeal for much of the year.
“People come to see it in the winter just as much as in the summer,” she says.
Mackie is hoping the city will heed her concerns.
“I don’t think it’s really a big expense to whack down a few of the trees, spray some of the weeds,” she says, adding that the site also needs a bench as well as a garbage can to collect food wrappers and other trash that quickly accumulates.
Dangerous
In Mackie’s view, even reaching the lookout can be dangerous given the state of disrepair on the adjoining block of Bellevue Avenue.
Mackie says the avenue’s guardrail is broken and treacherously tilted while the road itself is badly cracked with many holes and some small trees sprouting through the asphalt.
She is worried about the road possibly crumbling onto Terrace Avenue below, and children and late-night revellers who use the tilted guardrail as a balance beam.
“It’s a huge safety issue,” Mackie says.
Mackie is not aware of any accidents related to the condition of the road or guardrail, but she has seen kids fall off the rail and hurt themselves.
She says she and her neighbours have brought their concerns to the city in the past, but Mayor George Fontaine said he hadn’t heard of the issues until questioned by The Reminder on Tuesday.
He directed city administration to make the engineering department aware of the
concerns.
The next day, Wednesday, city crews began replacing damaged guardrail posts near the lookout.
